After years apart
by almostblackandwhite
Summary: ...Emma finally sees Regina again. This story was my take on Regina, (Robin) Emma (and Neal) after the Neverland adventure, and how it might all end for them. Goes very AU right before they return to Storybrooke, and Regina, Henry, Emma end up separated. But not forever.


**Note:** I found this on my computer and after rereading it (and expanding it a litte), thought: why not publish it. Written before ... well a lot of things, but most importantly, before the gang went back from Neverland to Storybrooke, and well that story was basically how I saw the Regina/Robin thing playing out... before she and Emma would find each other, in the end.

(I think the T rating's safe...there's some lovin, but nothing explicit)

* * *

_Prologue_

When they were trying to travel through a portal they landed in FTL, not Storybrooke.

They'd all been looking forward to coming home and, upon realizing they'd landed in the Enchanted Forest instead, it was a disappointment for everyone. Even those who actually enjoyed being there - right now, everyone just saw Storybrooke as their home. They had to make the best out of the situation.

Regina knew that Henry was in an awkward position, running from her to Emma and Neal, never wanting to hurt anybody. The Charmings were _generously _granting her the same rights but also made no effort in hiding their preferation for Emma and Neal, since they happened to share the same DNA as Henry. Nobody seemed to want to talk about what would happen once they were back home again. Maybe that's why Regina was secretely relieved and grateful for the delay.

When Regina first spoke to Robin, she had no idea who he was, or who he was meant to be - the one she supposedly was destined to be with. (No, Tinkerbell wasn't there to throw one of her manipulative little speeches. She and Hook had stayed in Neverland, whether it was because they had a shared history or neither of them a future in the real world, she didn't care, really.)

After a week in FTL they'd come across a group that Neal had met before, a band of men, and a woman that had joined them not so long ago. One afternoon one of the men was struggling with his horse, it bolted and didn't let itself be touched and handled at all, and he debated with another if he should restrict the animal with a painful device to tame it. Regina overheard the conversation, took off her blazer, and calmed the horse in an instant, without any magic, but with just a trick she'd learned as a girl. The men were impressed. Later, Robin Hood, their leader, came to congratulate her and invited her to ride the horse any time she wanted.

She fell in love quicker than she ever imagined, sneaking out of their camp at night to make out behind the horses, going on rides with him during the day, when her presence was neither required nor very much missed. And making Roland, Robin's little son, laugh with cute little tricks that required (almost) no magic. She liked the kid a lot, which wasn't a coincidence since he reminded her a lot of Henry when he was that age. Almost painfully so - gone was the time when Henry was as innocent and trusted her so entirely, before Emma came back into their lives.

Henry soon noticed, though. He started asking questions about her and Robin, and Regina was torn. Her son was the most important person in her life. Right? She jumped when he called. But it didn't mean she had to stand completely still without him. And she wasn't going to fight with Emma again.

Right when they finally found a portal to return to Storybrooke, Robin asked her to stay with him and Roland. She knew she would be heartbroken, no matter what choice she made. But where Henry was, she wanted to be. That's what she told Robin, and he said he understood her decision. Nothing could ever seperate him from his son.

But there was Neal. He seemed not interested in a fight. Appearantly he assumed, that Emma - and Henry - would live with him, once they returned to the real world, to Storybrooke. A _family_. The word kind of terrified Regina. What the hell, was it something that she hadn't offered Henry before?

But was she really so naive to believe - even if Neal wouldn't have come back - that she and Emma would _share _Henry, once back home?

Emma seemed happy with Neal, having overcome her fling with the pirate rather quickly (which Regina observed with a quiet satisfaction.)

And then Regina saw the tattoo. How could it not have sprung to her eyes before? Maybe she had wanted to ignore it deep down inside. It was telling her what to do (and that wasn't just Tinkerbell's voice inside her head) She wanted to be with Robin. Right?

And so she let them go, let Henry leave with Emma and Neal, and the Charmings, and the rest, and stayed. There were some protests, even from unexpected sides, actually, but in the end, they accepted to take the easy route and not fight her on this, and quietly bid farewell - not before she reassured Henry they'd soon see each other again, and would always speak and write.

* * *

_** Present Time **_

They had been sending messages through a portal more and more frequently, and once Emma had started reading them she had realized how they comforted her. Funny how they finally got to know each other while they were the farest apart.

When Regina had finally made the decision to let her life with Robin (and Roland, which made it a lot harder) behind, Emma had wanted her to come back for a long time. Regina had sort of warned her that she wouldn't have magic in Storybrooke, (if that was the reason why Emma had written that she needed her.) I can do magic now, she'd answered. And Henry is okay with it. It reminds him of you.

Emma waits at the portal for a whole hour before the estimated time that Regina had given her for her arrival from the other realm.

When she finally, _finally_ comes to sight, Emma takes a deep breath and drinks in her whole appearance, and - is this a joke - Regina wears the exact same outfit like the last time they saw each other, as if they parted paths just yesterday. Except that her hair is so long now.

_Welcome back,_

she hears herself say, a deja-vu from another time, when Regina had saved her. Now it was her turn. Or was it? Regina saved herself this time, and every other time, if she was really honest to herself. Or did she actually just save Emma, by coming back, cheesy as it sounds?

Henry - he calls her Regina now, and they're okay with it - is with Emma, standing by her side like a proper lad who's not a little boy anymore, too old to cling to his mother. When he runs up to Regina and takes her into his - now - huge arms, it slips though.

_Mom!_

A sob escapes Regina's throat. She just lets her eyes spill, she's not holding back anything now, maybe that's one of the things that're changed within her, Emma wonders silently.

Henry lets go of her and now it's her turn. They look at each other. It's like they had a silent agreement, written between the lines of their back and forth going correspondence, an unspoken understanding that they would be something _more_ now.

Emma hesitantly steps towards her, pulls her hands out of her pockets, and puts them around Regina, creating for herself a mental image of her body in a matter of seconds, an image she merges with the one she manufactured from her letters.

This is what Regina feels like.

She's an actual, breathing, living human being now.

_What... where can I get you? Are you hungry or-_

_Home_, Regina says.

Henry and Emma share a quick glance. It's uncertain what she means, but they'll take her to their home - theirs is hers - and it's the only place they can think of anyway.

* * *

Neal left three months ago, she hasn't erased him from the house yet, probably never will, but it's not like his imprint is on everything. He left some of his stuff but it still is _her _home, which is more of a feeling inside a place, not the place itself anyway.

She knew two months before he did it that he would leave. She'd miss him sometimes (like she had before, with a bad aftertaste) but not awfully. It depends on what you miss about a person.

Regina doesn't ask where they are going, though she must know it's not her old house.

(Regina's mansion had been locked up since the time it had become empty. Emma didn't want anyone snooping around, and technically, it belonged to her (or well, to Henry, when he comes of age.)

She lets herself be led by Emma and Henry, she's not the one to talk about things that had been discussed before - like Emma and Neal buying the house - or are that are obvious - Neal is not here.

They step through the small hallway, take off their coats and shoes, and it's all very real, like the things you do in a normal life, take off your outside clothes, make yourself comfortable inside your home, with your family. When they enter, Regina looks around, slightly astonished, it might be because she hadn't seen a modern interior in quite some time now, or maybe she couldn't imagine Emma to actually keep house?

They spend the first night of Regina being back with catching up on their lives. Emma thought there wouldn't be much to tell, but it appears that Regina had left out a lot, especially the parts about Robin and Roland. Emma feels an irritation spreading over her, too fast to fathom, but she pulls herself together, asks politely.

It shouldn't feel that way, she should be more interested in Regina's past, which _will_ stay a part of her, but she just wants to wipe the slate clean and feels like an asshole because of it.

Regina doesn't ask a lot, Emma guesses that Henry kept her updated on everything she'd leave out in her letters.

She watches Regina looking at Henry with wonder, but also an ache that she'd accepted years ago. Regina is one to face the facts - she missed some pivotal years with him. But, ironically, it's not a lot compared to what Emma had missed before her. This makes them even, in a nasty way.

(Which was a tasteless way of thinking, since it hadn't been Regina's fault that her baby grew up with her, but it had been Emma's doing that made Regina retreat and go along with Robin instead of them. Emma had basically decided for a life that excluded her. She is aware of that.)

* * *

Regina clears her throat.

_So, Neal..._

Emma stares at her, smiles. They sit together at the kitchen table, Emma serving breakfast, mostly consisting of a strong cup of coffee (which Regina had gladly accepted.) One of the things I had missed, she'd stated smilingly.

_I realized, with him, I was living in the past. That this here was a life we were supposed to have years ago._

Now she and Henry were supposed to have a different life, and she felt suddenly impatient for it to start.

_When will you see him again?_

_I don't know. Maybe in a couple of years, when he can't get his life together and guesses he can come back and pick up where he left, as if nothing ever happened. _

_Just like the last time, _she adds.

_Good_, Regina says, not quietly enough.

_And Henry?_

_Maybe he'll send him a postcard from time to time_, Emma jokes.

_Henry didn't have a father for 11 years, he'll get used to it again._

_That's a terrible thing to say! ...but I guess you're right._

There aren't a lot of kids who got not just two but three parents. (Luckily, one doesn't get to choose.)

_I had a lot of time to think._

_Me too._

_You know that I always, secretely, had this small hope we might live together as a family?_

(Regina once wanted - or dreamed of - ...not even sure, what)

_I was so stupid back then, I had my gratitude for Neal being okay, being alive... confused with love,_ Emma laughs.

* * *

They sit on the couch, watch something on tv without noticing much. Regina had, again, missed the rapid development of technical devices and Emma is, again, way ahead of her. How do I turn this thing on, how do I switch the channel, how do I turn down the volume? Emma smiles.

_You know, Henry loves us both so much. And I feel like this love is just... all over us both and just doesn't stop and -_

Regina chuckles.

Emma wears her hair shorter now, but in curly waves again and held together in a loose ponytail, very much like the busy mother of a teenage boy.

She can feel the skin on her cheeks, around her eyes, her forehad, it's like there is a line for every month she spent with Neal, not Regina.

When Regina raises her hand to touch her face, she reaches out as well, and takes hold of it, gingerly takes her hand in her fingers and leads it to her mouth, sighs a barely perceptible kiss on smooth skin. (She can feel Regina's goosebumps, not just on her hand - her whole body's shaking)

Regina's hair is long now, it's hanging over her shoulder and it's very lovely - and she actually wore a braid in FTL? Emma finds it funny. It's kind of like now _she_ is the older, more mature one, compared to before. And she just wants to ignore all the years Regina spent with Robin, but she knows that's not fair.

Regina's lips are slightly parted, Emma catches herself staring at them, believing she'll go nuts thinking about the blackness inside her mouth.

It's an old sofa - Emma's choice, she decided she liked old things, and this one, she actually had found in Storybrooke - and the springs squeak, as Emma shifts her position, moves closer to Regina, while she never lets go of that hand. She feels a retained sparkle of magic in their palms, but she's not sure Regina can feel it too, if she can, she doesn't show it. Emma just asks her with her eyes, is this happening? Is it real?

Regina hadn't moved one bit, so Emma decides to pull her even closer. Maybe it was a bit rough, but it has the desired effect. Their faces are as close as they can without actually touching. Emma knows Regina's holding her breath, since she cannot feel it, can only feel the silent anticipation, and her pulse through the air, through their linked hands, if that's possible. Regina still does not speak nor move, but in her face is reassurance.

Emma has looked into a lot of pairs of eyes before, at the instant before kissing their respective owner, but never was there so much clarity. There's nothing clouded or veiled, no doubt over what is about to happen right now, as if it's happened before, logically, naturally.

Their looks quietly speak everything they would say out loud in the next two minutes, hours, days in the matter of seconds. I want you. I always wanted you. Did you know that even when I hated you I also wanted you? Did you know-

Emma's pulse is throbbing madly against her chest when she slowly, so _very_ slowly (because they have all the time in the world now) closes Regina's glowing lips with her own.

She feels the warmth shooting through her body like a bullet - and it turns to heat, the second Regina opens her mouth and starts sucking her bottom lip, her knees tremble, finally give in, and Emma can feel her whole body surrender. She breathlessly holds onto this woman's lips, and the sensation is of something like falling, drowning in the softness, the heat of her body, her molten breath, and she's not sure if she'll be able to remember all these sensations afterwards, her brain is not working properly as Regina's tongue is in her mouth now and her slender fingers are grabbing the back of her head, pulling handfuls of hair.

They fall backwards on the couch and Emma breaks their connection, (which is hard, oh _so_ hard) to make some distance between them so she's able to finally unbutton her blouse. She opens it and - Regina's not surprised, since she could tell the whole morning and it drove her crazy - she's not wearing a bra.

Straddling her somewhat awkwardly (Emma's left knee between her thighs - and how did it even end up there, she can't remember intending to, but still, it did, innocently - and her right leg squeezed somewhere between the cushions and the back of the sofa) she's about to get rid of her blouse, when she back-pedals for a moment, being very aware of her nakedness. Regina's eyes are staring at her, wandering, before the woman grabs her shirt with both hands and draws her down onto her, pulling her to her soft, wet lips again, and Emma groans, not sure if she won't just melt into her arms and mouth.

Until... Regina jerks clumsily and it takes Emma by surprise.

_Where's Henry?!_

They both panic for a second, Emma instinctively putting her hands over her breasts on alert. Then she remembers again, breathes out and smiles at Regina.

_Don't worry. He's spending the night at Grace's house, remember?_

Regina looks confused, but she nods.

_Yes, he told me about her during dinner. Oh, thank god._

She laughs. Just look at us, Emma thinks, acting like... idiots. A mischievous smile crosses Regina's face, and she slowly moves her hands up Emma's sides until she reaches her chest, and takes her hands away. Emma can feel her heart hammering, the goose bumps on her breasts, and her nipples- well-, and then Regina's hands on them, and _o god_, she wants to be even closer, nothing was ever more exciting than the idea of being skin to skin with her, and with her heart pounding, yet again, in her throat, she half-rips Regina's blouse apart (no buttons are harmed, but the threads might need tightening) and is amazed by the beauty of her, naked, by the blush creeping onto Regina's cheeks, and how easy their lips connect again - as if they'd been doing that for all these years.

* * *

In the next morning, they _do _get caught by Henry. Sort of. Emma sleepily opens her eyes, just a tiny bit, when she hears him rummaging in the kitchen. Still dozy, she takes in where she is - still on the sofa, cuddled against Regina, still asleep, her hair so charmingly tousled. And... o god. This is when she realizes that some of their clothes are half-opened, and hurringly buttons up her blouse so she'd be at least decent. And there he was, coming through the door smilingly, just a second after Emma threw a blanket over Regina.

_Hey! Sleep well?_

He grins. And Emma wonders when exactly he became so savvy.

_It's okay, Mom. I'm not stupid. I was just wondering..._

_What?_

_Uh, nothing. I'm just... so glad that she's back._

Emma stays quiet, just looks at him, and fights the urge to pull him in for a good morning kiss. But, he's not a kid anymore.

Nonetheless, he proves her wrong later, after breakfast, as Regina's sitting next to her and he takes them into his arms in an enormous bearhug. She can feel how relieved they all are, finally being able to just fall into each other's touch with no reservations. It feels so good.

* * *

They somehow don't dare to kiss during the day, even though they know it'd be totally fine for Henry. But they're very touchy-feely, fumbling away with their hands, Regina not getting enough of Emma's face, and herself always touching her arms, her shoulders and neck, and it's enough to make Henry roll his eyes. (But he smiles, more happily than she ever saw him.)

It's in the third night since then that they have sex, with Henry staying away again, and having spent the evening before with the same making out and kissing (because they really can't get enough of that, it just doesn't _compare_ to everything before Regina, before Emma. And really - they have so much time, and no hurry.)

Still, something's different the third night. Henry's away, and after just these few days, they feel like they know each other. Sure, they have _known _each other for years now, but this day, and yesterday, and the one before... cemented an intimacy, and trust in the other, it's almost a little scary how fast that happened. But then again, not really.

* * *

Two days later they go out for groceries together, and it's actually the first time Regina shows herself in town, lets people officially know that she's back. And while she and Emma try to act as if nothing is out of the ordinary - just quietly talking to each other, discussing which cream to buy for coffee or what they'll need to get for dinner - the people they meet suddenly stand still, look at her like they look at a new person in town, but not quite - more like at somebody who's been gone for so long to make all their past grudges become unimportant and little, and all they can hear are warm words, directed at both.

_Well, welcome back!_

or

_Oh, I was wondering if we'd ever see you again... and I have to say, I'm kinda glad to! _(That was Granny, of all people.)

And some are even in the mood for joking -

_Good to have "the Mayor" back in town!_

Regina laughs a little, but doesn't quite feel the need to shake her head, or deliver a dry response.

_It's good to see you happy again, Emma._

And Emma gleams at them, takes Regina's hand and squeezes it softly. Regina looks at her and knows that she is were she's supposed to be (not because somebody else told her so, but because she can feel it right here, right now in this very second) and with a humble but confident, yes _proud_ smile on her face, presses her lips on Emma's cheek.

Somebody standing over at the dairy counter smiles at them.

* * *

**Further notes...** I guess this could also serve as some sort of conclusion for my other story, Meet me at midnight. Though I feel like Regina's in this story changed a lot over time. Maybe a bit OOC. But still, I enjoyed thinking about and writing this. Thanks for reading :)


End file.
